Essendon coach Mark Thompson is preparing to face a tough Fremantle team who will be determined to bounce back from their loss to Hawthorn on Sunday afternoon.

Thompson said the feeling was positive among the group about making the trip to Patersons Stadium to take on last year’s grand finalists.

“We are confident, obviously Fremantle didn’t play that well last Friday night against Hawthorn so they will definitely come out better,” Thompson said.

“If you look at the performance of the club they have been consistently good since Ross has been there so you would think that they would bounce back.”

Essendon had a superb record on the road last season winning four of its five interstate games in 2013.

Thompson said the club’s interstate focus was something that had significantly improved in recent seasons.

“A lot of what we do when we go interstate is about trying to create an environment that looks the same as what we do when we are here (in Melbourne),” he said.

“The fact is when teams become good teams they win no matter where they play so that is our challenge to go over there, keep it normal, play as well as we can and get the result we are hoping for.”

The two-time premiership coach said the Bombers game plan was different to that of the Cats when he was last in charge in 2010.

“I am glad that people see our style as enjoyable, I am glad that people like it, we have had a massive focus on being consistent and being defensive,” Thompson said.

“I am glad that our fans are enjoying watching us do that and keeping teams to low scores.”

“Hopefully that can continue (keeping teams to low scores) and at the same time when we get the ball we want to score because you need to score to win.”